Boeing 787 news

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bollox
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Re: Boeing 787 news

Post by bollox »

Will the japanese FAA and others accecpt this very short series of certification tests as proof that the lithium batteries wil not self-destruct under some future flight circumstances? I believe that nobody really understands the dynamics/reason for the overheating/smoking/burning of cells. :?:

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KriVa
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Re: Boeing 787 news

Post by KriVa »

Weren't these test flights specifically carried out to demonstrate that the new enclosure can cope with a thermal runaway? I also read somewhere that Boeing would test a battery "into the ground" on a ground test, but haven't heard anything about it since.
Thomas

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earthman
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Re: Boeing 787 news

Post by earthman »

Yes, it would be very interesting/entertaining to watch a video of said ground test.

JAFflyer
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Re: Boeing 787 news

Post by JAFflyer »

http://zite.to/ZHrR7i

787 battery explosion in it's new casing.

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RoMax
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Re: Boeing 787 news

Post by RoMax »

JAFflyer wrote:http://zite.to/ZHrR7i

787 battery explosion in it's new casing.
Not much to see (except some little expansion of the 'container'), so that seems like a good thing :P

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sn26567
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Re: Boeing 787 news

Post by sn26567 »

A new 787 test flight is planned today, but this time on ZA005 (N787FT). It will be a routine functional check flight unrelated to battery certification. Call sign: BOE5.

Again, it can be followed live now: http://fr.flightaware.com/live/flight/BOE5

Incidentally, the ground test of the battery containment system mentioned above was carried out on this aircraft.

Strange situation that now we have to report every time that a B787 is in the air: it has become a rarity. Let's hope they will get their certification soon and that the situation reverts to normal.
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galaxy
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Re: Boeing 787 news

Post by galaxy »

Flightradar24.com has two B787 .
BOE5 and 516 ( N787FT)

http://www.flightradar24.com/

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Re: Boeing 787 news

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FAA gives no date to approve Boeing 787 battery

Boeing has finished testing its redesigned 787 Dreamliner battery system, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday, but the agency gave no timetable for when it would lift a ban on flights by the new jet.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said the agency is reviewing the tests and analysis and "will approve the redesign once we are satisfied Boeing has shown the redesigned battery system meets FAA requirements." (Source: Reuters)

FAA has a credibility problem: it cleared the 787 in 2007. Therefore it will only give a green light if it is sure that the system devised by Boeing for the battery is absolutely safe, and it will take all the necessary time to confirm the safety. And FAA must also convince the public that flying the 787 is safe. Not a small job...
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Re: Boeing 787 news

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Rolls-Royce Dreamliner engines veed additional checks for flaw

Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines powering Boeing 787 Dreamliners will temporarily require additional inspections to probe a component flaw in the powerplant, European safety regulators said today in an airworthiness directive that takes effect May 2. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is concerned about degradation of seals on the Trent 1000’s intermediate pressure turbine section, and the engines will have to be removed in certain circumstances.

“This condition, if not detected and corrected, could lead to an in-flight shut-down resulting in reduced control of the airplane,” EASA said.

Full story from Bloomberg
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sn26567
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Re: Boeing 787 news

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Boeing resumes pre-delivery 787 production flights with FAA's permission. A production flight was operated Thursday with an ANA-bound 787.
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Re: Boeing 787 news

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After the FAA has authorised the Dreamliner to fly again with a modified battery system (see viewtopic.php?p=279620#p279620), ANA will conduct up to 200 test flights before allowing its own Boeing 787s in the air again.

All Nippon Airways, the biggest customer for Boeing grounded 787 Dreamliner, plans about 100 to 200 round trip test flights in May of its repaired aircraft before carrying passengers again from June.

Boeing engineers will start to refit each of the 50 jets owned by airlines around the world with the battery system and regulators are expected to lift the ban on passenger flights as early as next week, for the jets that have been fixed.

The ANA test flights are aimed at checking the safety of the aircraft, as well as having about 200 of ANA's Dreamliner pilots get accustomed to flying it again after more than a three-month break.

Full story from Reuters
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Re: Boeing 787 news

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Boeing has begun to install the battery fixes on 5 ANA 787s in Japan today.
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Re: Boeing 787 news

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Boeing 'may never find battery fault cause'

Boeing has admitted that it may never know what caused the battery malfunctions that resulted in all its 787 Dreamliner aircraft being grounded. The admission came from Boeing's Larry Loftis, the general manager of the company's 787 division. He added: "It is not uncommon not to have found the single root cause. So industry best practice is to look at all the potential causes and address all of them."

Replacement battery systems are now being fitted to all 50 Dreamliners that had been in operation with airlines around the world.

Boeing expects the planes to resume service in the coming weeks.

The two lithium-ion batteries are not used when the 787 is in flight. Instead they are operational when the plane is on the ground and its engines are not turned on, and are used to power the aircraft's brakes and lights.

Mr Loftis said Boeing had put 200,000 engineer hours into fixing the problem, with staff working round the clock.

Improved batteries are now being introduced. Mr Loftis explained that the newer batteries did not have to work so hard, and therefore operated at a cooler temperature.

In addition, the new batteries are enclosed in stainless steel boxes which have a ventilation pipe that directly goes to the outside of the plane. So Mr Loftis said that any future "rare cases" of battery failure would be "100% contained", with any smoke immediately leaving the plane.

A total of 300 Boeing engineers, pooled into 10 teams, have now started fitting the replacement batteries and battery systems to the 787s in service around the world, and also to those that have been built by Boeing since January.

Mr Loftis said it would take five days per plane to do the necessary work, and that it would be carried out by the order in which airlines first received the planes. For this reason, Japan's All Nippon Airlines will be the first to get its 787s fixed.

Boeing is likely to release details of how much fixing the battery problem has cost the company when it releases its latest quarterly results on Wednesday.

Boeing has continued to make five 787s per month, and that the company was about to increase that to seven, raising output to 10 per month by the end of this year.

Full story from BBC
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KriVa
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Re: Boeing 787 news

Post by KriVa »

50 787s doing 200 test flights... So about 4 test flights per plane? Seems reasonable.
Thomas

appel
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Re: Boeing 787 news

Post by appel »

the 200 test flights are only for ANA
with 17 planes in service (or better to say delivered) according to wiki and planespotters.net that makes more then 10 flights per aircraft

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RoMax
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Re: Boeing 787 news

Post by RoMax »

appel wrote:the 200 test flights are only for ANA
with 17 planes in service (or better to say delivered) according to wiki and planespotters.net that makes more then 10 flights per aircraft
Yes but it's between 100 and 200. I don't think they'll perform 200 flights unless they'll find some problems during the first flights.

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sn26567
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Re: Boeing 787 news

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EASA today also approved the design change of the Boeing 787-8 Auxiliary Power Unit battery, battery charger and battery enclosure.
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RoMax
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Re: Boeing 787 news

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Nice picture of Charleston, the result of production without delivering the aircraft (even with the current very limited production level in Charleston):
http://oi33.tinypic.com/afivy1.jpg

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sn26567
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Re: Boeing 787 news

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RoMax wrote:Nice picture of Charleston, the result of production without delivering the aircraft (even with the current very limited production level in Charleston):
http://oi33.tinypic.com/afivy1.jpg
Many Chinese registrations :o
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RoMax
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Re: Boeing 787 news

Post by RoMax »

sn26567 wrote:
RoMax wrote:Nice picture of Charleston, the result of production without delivering the aircraft (even with the current very limited production level in Charleston):
http://oi33.tinypic.com/afivy1.jpg
Many Chinese registrations :o
Until now Charleston only produced for JAL (not sure), Air India (the majority), Hainan and China Southern. Currently it's all Air India, Hainan and China Southern waiting outside the factory (not all of them are on the picture). A Qatar and LAN are also undergoing FAL in Charleston for the moment, so that'll be two new airlines for that facility.

Btw, nice to note that are currently 'finished' (except for the battery changes) aircraft for TUI, British Airways, Norwegian, China Southern (quite an amount) and Hainan (also quite an amount). These have no 787's yet, they should have got them already, so let's hope things go fast now.
The first for Aeromexico is undergoing FAL and soon the parts for the first Qantas (Jetstar) Dreamliner will start to arrive. And somewhere in May the first 787-9 will enter FAL.

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